More Teachers Integrating Cell Phones Into Curriculum

Today, most tweens and teenagers own a cell phone, and the majority are smart phones, and it isn’t very likely for them to leave that all-consuming device at home during the school day. But in this technology filled era, many teachers are finding ways to integrate cell phones into classroom instruction, like AP psychology teacher Liz Severson, from Fond du Lac, WI.

“This generation of kids is very, I don’t want to say reliant or dependent on technology, but really what they’re addicted to is that instant feedback,” Severson said.

As a teacher, she’s also gotten instant feedback from her students through the use of cell phones.

“I could set up a poll on a website and then students could text their answer to a certain number and then when they texted that number the results would come up and I’d have instant feedback,” she said.

There are countless apps that help students enhance their reading, spelling, writing and math skills, as well as digital tools to help organize all of that information that is right at their fingertips.

“One thing I’ve done that is teach kids to utilize Pinterest because a lot of kids really like Pinterest and they can actually create a board, let’s say biological psychology or the brain, and then go find information and pin those websites to Pinterest,” she said.

Severson says it keeps kids organized and teaches them how to use social media in an efficient, educational way. But while using cell phones in the classroom has many benefits, it also opens the door to distraction.

“I think the big thing is they are still kids, when we think back to when I was younger if I wasn’t paying attention, I may be dazed off or I may be writing notes to people or reading a book and now kids are going to be texting their friends or checking Twitter or playing games, so it’s really a different type of distraction,” she said.

Severson says teachers should also teach social media responsibility and that it’s up to teachers to engage their students so they don’t feel the need to pick up their phone, unless instructed to.

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